“My Policeman is an ambitious, introspective drama that is ultimately let down by a pair of disappointing performances from two of its lead stars.”
Pros
- David Dawson’s revelatory performance
- A well-structured script
- Gina McKee gives a mature and layered support performance
Cons
- Emma Corrin, Harry Styles, and Emma Corrin give poor performances
- The film’s slow pace is almost a bore.
- An ending that is too short
My policeman is a stately, often overly repressed adaptation of Bethan Roberts’ 2012 novel of the same name. The film has all the necessary ingredients to be another respectably dignified — if not particularly spectacular — ensemble drama from the U.K. Despite having six cast members, the film only leaves a lasting impression on one of them. My policeman. Films often reduce rather than increase the emotional complexity of the story.
The film’s uniquely British, stiff-upper-lip attitude could have, if handled better, only further amplified the regret and desperation that is present in its tale of gay repression and multigenerational heartbreak. Instead, My policeman consistently fails to dive as fully into the raw emotions of its story as it should, which robs the film’s third act of much of its intended power. While some of the film’s failings can be attributed to Michael Grandage’s relatively straightforward direction, the two disappointing performances at the center of it are also to blame for many of My policeman’s problems.
My policeman’s story is told through the perspectives of two of its central three characters. The film’s first act is shown through the lens of Marion, a retired schoolteacher who is played in her older years by Gina McKee. Through her recollections, we see how Marion’s younger self (played by The Crown‘s Emma Corrin) first met and fell in love with her eventual husband, Tom (Linus Roache), a former policeman who is played in his younger years by Harry Styles. The memories that are shown at the start of the film also suggest that Tom and Marion’s close friendship with a museum curator named Patrick, who is played by both Rupert Everett in his older years and David Dawson as a younger man, was an entirely innocent one.
However, after McKee’s older Marion takes in Everett’s disabled Patrick, she begins to secretly read some of the journals he’s kept from his youth. She does this, My policeman switches to the perspective of Dawson’s younger Patrick and reveals the secret sexual relationship that he engaged in for many years with Styles’ Tom. From then on My policeman’s multiple perspectives and timelines begin to blend together, slowly but surely revealing how Patrick, Tom, and Marion’s friendship was eventually destroyed.
The clever structure My policeman’s script, which was penned by Ron Nyswaner, allows the film’s story to gradually grow more layered and complex throughout the entirety of its 113-minute runtime. The film even mines a surprising amount of tension and intrigue by revealing Marion’s memories of her husband’s relationship with Patrick in the manner and pace that it does. Unfortunately, Nyswaner’s script still arrives at a conclusion that doesn’t feel nearly as messy or emotionally raw as it arguably should.
Styles, for his part, turns in a disappointingly one-note performance as Tom, a man who is torn between the stability of his relationship with Marion and the passion of his and Patrick’s secret romance. Styles is clearly an actor in his early stages, but he fails to portray the vulnerability and depth that Styles needs. My policeman’s story requires of him. The same goes for Emma Corrin, who fares somewhat better than Styles, but still gives a performance as Marion that doesn’t come close to matching the elegance of McKee’s turn as her older counterpart.
Most importantly, My policeman’s present-day scenes work well precisely because of how much more nuanced and mature McKee and Roache’s performances feel as Marion and Tom. That doesn’t mean, however, that My policeman’s flashbacks are all difficult to get through. Quite the opposite is true, in fact, thanks to Dawson’s genuinely revelatory performance as Patrick. Dawson has an innate ability to hold your attention whenever he’s on screen, and it’s in the scenes where My policemanHe is the one that the film focuses the most on, and the film communicates the romance tragedy of the story the best.
Despite the undeniable quality of Dawson’s breakout performance, though, My Policeman’s overall power fails to match the sum of its parts. The film is another mature drama, but it’s another well-made, sometimes stirring British romance. The film’s overly-clean nature is a problem. My policeman’s final minutes, as well as Corrin and Styles’ lackluster performances, ultimately prevent the film from standing out much from the crowd. In the end, McKee and Dawson’s moving efforts as Marion and Patrick aren’t enough to turn My policemanInto the provocative, emotionally empathetic drama it so desperately desires to be.
My policeman This film is now playing in select theaters. It can also be streamed via Amazon Prime Video.
Recommendations of Editors
